The Truth of Reach
by Duuuuuuuuudeeeee
Summary: When Caleb (AKA Noble Six) sees Jorge die and Jun disappear, he wonders what actually happened to them. Later, he discovers that they're alive! Things are only heating up, though, as a terrifying situation comes up... Leading to a matter of life and death. Rated T for violence and some language.
1. Prologue

Author's Note: HEYOOOOOO! I'm back! And I'm comin' back with a new Halo-based story (Destiny wasn't working out for me.)! Enjoy the story of Caleb the SPARTAN-III as he discovers what REALLY happened to Jorge and finds Jun, essentially re-assembling Noble Team! I am Duuuuuuuuudeeeee, and I REALLY need a new catchphrase.

===WATERFRONT, PLANET REACH===

A frag grenade exploded in the distance, accompanied by the satisfying death squeals of Covenant Grunts. One of the Grunts' methane tanks detached from its owner and flew towards Caleb. He slapped it away and it flew into the distance, green methane spraying from the detached end. He looked around the crate that he was taking cover behind and saw a squadron of Elite Rangers in their white pressure suits, advancing angrily towards him, carrying Energy Swords. Momentarily, Caleb felt nothing but fear. That fear was replaced almost instantaneously, however, by sniper bolts being fired into the Elites' heads, dark purple blood spraying from the penetrations. Caleb looked on the roof of the building behind him and saw Jun laying on the roof in a sniper position, sniper rifle aimed at the now lifeless Elite Rangers.

He smiled and came out of cover, picking up an Energy Sword from one of the Elites' corpses and activating it. Charging towards him was one of the Covenant's fiercest warriors: A Brute Chieftain, terrifying package complete with a massive Gravity Hammer. Its face was full of rage, and as it hefted its Hammer in preparation for a killing blow on the comparatively tiny SPARTAN, it let out a loud roar that most likely would've deafened a small child. Jun fired a sniper bolt, but it bounced off the Brute's armor and the massive alien warrior continued its charge. Caleb hid behind the crate again, hoping to throw off the Brute's charge long enough to strike. He waited...

And nothing happened.

Caleb began to look around, and heard the Brute scream in pain. He then heard a heavy machine gun being fired, and the Brute's scream slowly died, muffled by the something that sounded like the it was screaming with a mouth full of water. He looked all the way around, and saw the Brute laying on the ground, slumped against the crate with several bullet holes in its neck and blood pouring out of its mouth. Jorge was standing over the corpse like a triumphant knight who had just slain a fearsome dragon. In his red visor was the image of the Brute's death, and even though Caleb couldn't see through the visor, he could tell that Jorge didn't feel an ounce of remorse.

Caleb went over his team in his head: Him, Jun, and Jorge. '_Hm, that should be enough._' He thought to himself, before being proven entirely wrong. Behind Jorge, there were at least three pairs of Covenant Hunters lumbering towards the team, accompanied by a full battalion of Jackals and a squadron of Elite Ultras. In the back of the group, Caleb saw the one thing holding the Covenant's assault together: An Elite General, gold armor shimmering from the light of the light-posts and carrying an Energy Sword.

The Jackals and Hunters moved aside, and the Elite squadron, led by the General, charged forward. Jorge hefted his machine gun and Jun took up a better position on the building's roof. Caleb looked at the team: They had survived this much. Although, they were now facing an entire squadron of Elites as well as their commanding General, and even if they defeated them, they still had an entire battallion of Jackals and six Hunters to deal with. And Hunters are pretty damn tough.

They couldn't escape, seeing as their Pelican was shot down by Banshees (Which were now scrapped decorations for the Waterfront.). They had no idea how to drive a Covenant dropship, so that ruled out the Phantom...

All they could do is fight and bloody as many Covenant soldiers as possible.

Jun loaded a fresh clip of bullets into his sniper rifle and pulled back the lever with a _click_. Jorge dropped his 200-round machine gun clip and clacked a full one in. And Caleb Picked up the nearest Plasma Repeater and checked the battery. It was nearly full, but the weapon was overheated. He pressed a button that heated the alien weapon with a purr that told him that he was gonna end up standing among the bleeding, mutilated, melted corpses of Covenant soldiers.

He looked back at the Elites. 50 yards.

40.

30.

25.

10.

5.

Caleb punched one of the Elite Ultras between the eyes, as hard as he could. The Elite flew back, its skull most likely fractured from the intense blow. Its Energy Sword flew into Caleb's hand, and its body flew into a group of Jackals, weighing them down. Jun fired one, two, then three bolts, each one taking residence in the brain casing of an Elite. Jorge fired an endless volley of bullets from his machine gun, dropping the aggravated alien warriors like flies. Their General, however, was interesting; His armor deflected the SPARTAN team's ammunition.

He was in the front of the group, standing as though he were watching a sunset from a cliff. His Energy Sword crackled with electricity and heated the air around it. He watched his brothers die without a drop of sympathy. Then, he roared...

And charged.


	2. Chapter 1: Fighting for Survival

Author's Note: Hola! I'm back with the next chapter of The Truth of Reach. I know I was a little late with the first chapter (Who posts on a Wednesday?), but at least this one looks like it came faster! I am Duuuuuuuuudeeeee, and I STILL need a new catchphrase.

===NOBLE BASE, PLANET REACH===

Caleb woke up from his nightmare.

He looked around: Bedroom, armor on the wall, desk, door. '_Good..._' He thought. He swung his legs off of the bed, and sat for a second. For two weeks, he's been having dreams that involve him, Jun, and Jorge. But Jun and Jorge were dead. Well, Jorge was. Jun was never confirmed to be killed. Last he saw of the sniper was when he was on a Pelican with Dr. Catherine Halsey.

Caleb picked up his shotgun and walked to the door. He cautiously opened it and looked around, scanning the full 180 degrees of the exterior. Seeing nothing but rolling plains and hills, he closed the door and walked back to his bed. Just before he laid down, however, he heard something.

Breathing.

And it was getting closer.

He also noticed a small amount of blurring in the air in front of him. That was what made him shoot.

He fired two shells in front of him, dropping a Spec Ops Elite that was camouflaged. He picked up two of the shells on his nightstand and loaded them into his shotgun. He looked around. More blurs. Three of them.

One of the Elites came out of active camo and charged at him with its Energy Sword. Caleb rolled out of the way, causing the Elite to run straight into the wall. A large crack appeared where it hit. The enraged alien shook its head and looked where Caleb was, charging again.

Caleb whacked it in the groin with the butt of his shotgun, causing it to scream in pain. It grabbed him by the neck, and lifted him up. It pulled back its Sword in an attempt to strike...

And had a large hole blasted in the back of its head with a sniper rifle.

Caleb fell to the floor, coughing blood and struggling to breathe. The Elite fell flat on its face, congealing purple blood spilling out of the hole in its skull. Caleb looked through the window and the hole in it, seeing nothing.

Then, where did the sniper bullet come from?

He forgot about the Elites.

They both came out of active camo and charged towards him.

Caleb pulled out his M6C dual pistols and aimed each one at an Elite. He unloaded both of their clips, depleting the Elites' shields. He dropped them both. One Elite took a swing at his legs, but he jumped over the blade and kicked the Elite directly in between the eyes. He pulled out his combat knife and ran towards the one he kicked. He jumped, and then brought the knife down into the Elite's brain. He pulled it out, wiped the blood off on his shirt, and waited for the other Elite to be directly in front of him.

He jammed the knife into the Elite's neck, as hard as he could. It screamed, but the scream quickly died. He pulled the knife out, cleaned it again, and looked around. All clear.

But there was still one question.

Who saved his life?

Author's Note: I know this chapter was short, but I'm sorta losing focus today, as well as just not knowing what to put next in this one. I am Duuuuuuuuudeeeee, and I STILL need a new catchphrase.


	3. Chapter 2: Look Who's Back

Author's Note: Ah, so good to be back. And with a _**BANG**_, too. Not really anything special, just a kick-ass fight scene and Caleb's first discovery leading to the epic conclusion to The Truth of Reach, not just about Jorge and Jun, but a super climactic end to this story! Please leave a review, as I absolutely LOVE reading my fans' feedback. It also helps me feel better about my work. I am Duuuuuuuuudeeeee. That's all you need to know. ;-) Oh, and Merry Christmas!

Blood dripped from Caleb's side. Actually, it _poured_ from his side. Like a small waterfall.

Caleb looked at his opposition. An Elite General, accompanied by a duo of Elite Officers. All carrying Energy Swords. _And_ Needlers. He checked his vitals: Shields down, vitals low. And if he didn't stop the blood flow coming out of his sword wound, he would have no vitals within a minute.

He didn't have any biofoam, and he didn't think anything in his trauma kit would stop a blood fountain.

He could only fight and deny the advancing Covenant squadron their leadership.

He had to try his damnedest...

And kill the General.

"You demons claim to be so strong... Heresy does not show strength. Only the Sangheili tread the blessed path, and we will not allow the vermin of your species to desecrate the path. You shall die." The General said, slowly walking towards his downed and dying target.

Caleb laughed, masking his pain.

"You do realize that in the end, we all die, right? You monsters aren't saints, especially not for killing as much of the human race as you have. You tear innocent planets to shreds just because you claim that they aren't 'worthy'. You even kill your own brothers for minor disgraces. You're murderers. You bitches are gonna die too... You're never gonna win."

The General roared angrily, picking Caleb up by the collarbone.

"You are filth. We are going to kill you, then kill all of your brothers, and then glass your worthless home and terminate every last living piece of scum that you let live." It growled, punching Caleb in the stomach. He coughed up some blood.

And still managed to reply.

"Go to hell."

Caleb got a glimpse of a large figure walking towards them, over the small dune behind the enemy leader. As the Elite brought back its sword in an attempt to kill, Caleb saw that the figure had a very familiar look to it, although it wasn't entirely clear. Another thing came up, too: Caleb's bleeding stab wound had stopped, well, bleeding.

He was going to die.

One of the Elite Officers turned around to look at the strange figure coming towards them.

"Another Demon!"

"WHAT? I thought we cleansed this planet of all but one of the Demons." The General said angrily, dropping Caleb and turning around.

Caleb looked at the stranger approaching them. A SPARTAN? Noble Team was the only group of SPARTANs deployed on Reach, and they were dead. Well, all of them but Caleb. Although, Jun was never confirmed. But this one was much bigger than Jun.

And as his image became less shadowed, it became instantly recognizable as to who he was.

Jorge.

He hefted his machine gun and fired, mowing down the Elites in an instant. Their bodies were torn to shreds and blood was everywhere, including Caleb's visor. He took off his helmet and looked at Jorge, his eyes widening with ultimate surprise.

"You need to stop getting into situations like that, Six. You're going to get ripped apart if you don't stop." Jorge said, laughing to the slightest extent.

Author's Note: I realize I may be writing short chapters, but It's not like I'm gonna spend another hour writing just because I wrote a short chapter. I am Duuuuuuuuudeeeee. Hear me roar.


	4. Chapter 3: Not Gonna Die

Author's Note: Really not much to put here... Except that I am Duuuuuuuuuudeeeee. And that I might write an RWBY Fanfiction. About my favorite character. Blake. But it'll be rated M. And an action/romance fic. So, I'll probably make an alternate account to write it on. (P.S. If anyone could tell me what category [Movies, Games, etc.] I would find RWBY in, I'd be very grateful.)

===NOBLE BASE, PLANET REACH===

"So, you guys have been runnin' around Reach as outcasts, basically. You've managed to hold on to a few vehicles and an entire company of marines, and yet you were both assumed dead?"

"Nobody said the truth was easy, Six. We had no idea what happened to you, either." Jorge replied.

"So, wait... Weren't you on that Covenant ship when it blew up?"

"I almost was. When the explosion came towards me, I locked my armor and shut down all my systems. I was dead in space with the debris. I have no idea how long, but I probably wasn't out for very long. These suits can provide ninety minutes of air in a no-oxygen zone, and I woke up planetside. I had no idea where I was or what was going on. All I knew was that I was alive. It was a miracle. I found my machine gun, picked it up, and started walking. I reached a city relatively soon, and saw that the Covies were _still_ eradicating the population. Brutes were everywhere, but there were more corpses than Brutes. From what I hear, you were part of the city's defense. We were in completely different areas of that place. I decided to start shooting, and the area was clear soon enough. I continued my charge. And then I left the city with the marines that survived."

"Okay, that explains a lot. Except for the fact that I never heard news of your survival."

"News spreads slowly on a planet consumed by war, Six."

"It's not so much war as it is resistance, anymore, Jorge." Jun interrupted.

"It's just about the same thing, Jun. Regardless of what it is, we can't win. We can only fight and hope to live long enough to see the end. You think the Covenant has any predictions of losing? No. They're going to finish off every last living thing on this planet, and then they'll come in with plasma and rain all hell on our dead bodies."

"My point exactly. This isn't war. It's resistance. And we're the resistors."

"We're not resistors. We're _survivors_." Caleb said.

"What's your point, Six?" Jorge asked.

"First off, it's not Six. It's Caleb. Second off, resistors are simply people who resist. You can resist the effects of food poisoning or an allergy to pollen. Survivors are people who _survive_ things. You don't resist cancer or a fatal disease. You _survive_ it. That's what we're doing. We're not _resisting_ the Covenant's genocide. We're _surviving_ it."

"We won't survive much longer."

"That's not true. We've survived this long. We want to survive, so we will. Trust me. I know this."

"How?"

"Well, I _could_ tell you. But you'd never believe me. I've had experiences others could only dream of having. My life has shown me things I've never heard of and taught me lessons that I never knew I could learn. But nobody's ever understood."

"I'll take your word for it, Caleb."

"Covenant assault force inbound!" A marine shouted from the guard tower.

"How many?" Jorge asked.

"More than I think we can handle, boss!"

"Everybody, grab your guns and head out!"

Caleb, Jun, and Jorge headed outside, sprinting as fast as they could. Caleb was carrying his Shotgun.

When they looked at the forces advancing towards them.

It was the Waterfront dream all over again.

But these attackers had cruisers accompanying them.

And Wraiths, Banshees, Ghosts, Revenants... Just about every unit in the Covenant's possession.

And they were coming. Fast.

On top of that...

They had already opened fire.

And one fell down. Dead.

But there were hundreds more.

And three cruisers.

"We're gonna die, Jorge. We're screwed." Caleb said.

"No, we're not. Because we don't want to die."

Author's Note: Two things that I'm BEGGING will happen: One is that I'll get some reviews on this story. Two is that I REALLY wanna write this RWBY Fanfiction on an alternate account, and need to know which category RWBY's in. I am Duuuuuuuuudeeeee.


	5. Chapter 4: Locked Out

Author's Note: What the hell am I even doing? I'm surprised that I still write this (Especially considering how much of a failure my other stories have been). Things have been going WAY south in my life and it sucks. Depression is creeping up... Granted, the story seems to be doing really well, but I don't feel like I'm making much progress otherwise. I am Duuuuuuuuudeeeee. Gimme a goddamn hug.

===OUTSIDE NOBLE BASE, PLANET REACH===

The beam of a Covenant Focus Rifle flew over Caleb's head, followed by the death cry of a UNSC marine. Several troops had already died and the battle hadn't even lasted a minute. Shots _were_ being fired from Noble Team, but the Covenant's massive forces made it feel like killing a swarm of flies with a grape. Fruit flies.

Caleb aimed his DMR at the nearest Grunt and fired a shot, almost literally blowing its skull open. He dashed over to pick up its Fuel Rod Gun, and turned around to fire the weapon's explosive green balls at the enemy. And that's when a Hammer Brute started charging at him. This one was clearly faster than normal ones, though. Caleb didn't think his sprint would give him enough speed to get away. But then he remembered: He can't run. Not from this hell. All he can do is stand and fight.

So he did.

He fired the FRG bursts straight at his opponent. The Brute dodged the first two, but the next three impacted it in the chest. Its shields bursted and it roared, then continued its charge. Caleb was out of options. He had dropped his DMR. And it was behind the Brute.

Caleb charged as well. With his bare hands. Well, not bare (He had SPARTAN gauntlets), but you get the point.

He went fist-to-face with the Brute, straight between the eyes (Seems like a nice spot to hit). This time, the Brute just froze, rather than flying backwards. Its jaw dropped and when Caleb retracted his fist, the Brute fell face-first to the ground, unmoving.

"Well," He said. "That seems to be a nice spot to stop them dead with." He went to pick up his DMR, checked the ammo, and rushed back to his defense post with Jorge.

"What'd I miss, big guy?"

"Not much, but we're down about 20 men. And low on ammo."

"So, I was right. We ARE screwed."

"Not yet. Jun checked the vehicle depot and we still have one Falcon left. We could use it to escape."

"Who's driving?"

"You are, Caleb."

"I haven't piloted a Falcon for months!"

"Well, then. Let's see what you remember. I'm too big to fit in the cockpit and Jun has no idea whatsoever on driving things."

"Alright, then. Give the word and we'll run for the depot."

"Alright..." Jorge said, looking over their cover at the Covenant army. "NOW!"

They sprinted as fast as they could to Noble Base. They'd be able to safely get to the Falcon if they could get inside. Plasma bolts whizzing past them, they only had about a hundred yards left to go.

They reached the building, and noticed that there was a red light above the door. Caleb pressed the 'Open' button, but to no avail. Noble Base was on lockdown.

"Dammit, dammit, dammit!" Jorge said, aggravated. "What happened?"

"I think the plasma making contact with the outer structure of the base triggered a lock-down function." Caleb said, observing the control pad next to the door. "Jun, can you get out?" He asked over the comm.

"Can't do that, Caleb. The only way for the Falcon to get out was locked down, too."

"Can you unlock the base from the inside?"

"I could, but it'll take some time. You'll have to hold out while I deactivate the lockdown."

"How long will it take?"

"I have no damn idea."

"Try to make it fast... We won't be able to survive this without that Falcon."

"You got it. Somebody left a toolbox near the control panel. Now, I may not know how to do this on my own, but this doesn't seem too hard to do with an instructor marine right next to you."

"Why isn't he doing it?"

"He's dead. He's got instructions for disabling the lockdown."

"Well, isn't that just real fucking handy? Hurry up!"

"Be a little patient, Caleb. It's not necessarily easy to do this shit."

A Fuel Rod blast detonated near Caleb, taking his shields down to half.

"Now?"

"Not yet..."

A Scarab came over the mountain slowly, seeing Caleb and Jorge immediately and beginning to charge its main cannon.

"Now?"

The door's light turned green.

"Now!"

Caleb and Jorge ran inside, and shut the door behind them.

Author's Note: I'm so fucking excited to make a video gaming channel with my sister! If you're interested in watching, keep an eye out for Bro Sys Games on YouTube. I'm not telling the release date, but I will reveal that we'll be playing COD: Black Ops, Minecraft, and Halo. I am Duuuuuuuuudeeeee.


End file.
